Efficient production of raw cane sugar will improve the lives of thousands of families in Colombia

CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, and the Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia, signed a cooperation agreement to facilitate the productive and technological restructuring of the raw sugar cane sub-sector through the design of the Acción Nacionalmente Apropiada de Mitigación (NAMA) (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action), which consists of implementing actions to reduce emissions, expecting to reduce 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of produced raw sugar cane.

Among the actions included to achieve a more sustainable and economically feasible raw sugar cane to reduce the deforestation footprint generated by the sub-sector, the following stand out: productive restructuring of sowing and cultivation management and technological restructuring of mills and use of sub-products. With these measures, the raw sugar cane sector expects to contribute to the goals related to the mitigation of the effects of climate change in the country. 

The production of raw sugar cane in Colombia is the second employment generator in rural areas, and represents a basic food in the Colombian family basket. However, traditionally raw sugar cane producers have used production techniques that are unfriendly with the environment, including an indiscriminate use of firewood and used tires for combustion processes in the raw sugar cane mills.  

The NAMA seeks to promote mechanisms for a planet-friendly agro-industry, while at the same time increasing the productivity and efficiency of the sector, significantly improving working conditions and strengthening the resilience of the raw sugar cane producers to the effects of climate change which, in addition, would contribute to the construction of peace territories in the post-conflict process. 

The conceptualization of the raw sugar cane NAMA has been headed by the Federación Nacional de Productores de Panela (Fedepanela) (National Federation of Raw Sugar Cane Producers) and the MADS, through the Colombian Strategy for Low in Carbon Development, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the ADMIRE Project, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.  

The cooperation terms with CAF include support for the development of a consultancy for the design of the NAMA for its implementation based on the conceptual note registered by the country before the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as a voluntary commitment of Colombia in the face of the global mitigation efforts, part of a portfolio of seven NAMAs currently registered by Colombia before the United Nations.